Buying First Honda Questions...

[Sparky Phantom]

I am looking at buying a second car and getting a Honda Civic around years of 1997-2004. What do I need to look out for? What are common issues? Sorry if this is on wrong page. Thank you all.

 

[ctag]

Hi @Sparky Phantom Welcome to CC!

Are you looking for an automatic, or manual?

I'd say look for signs that the car's been taken care of and not already run into the ground.. Things like cheap "performance parts" like plastic aftermarket air intakes and mismatched worn tires would fall into the trouble category for me.

And it really depends on what level of TLC you're comfortable with. I'd buy a car with some oil leaking out of the valve cover, because that's a $20 fix with a few hours of spare time... But if there's white or blue smoke in the exhaust I'd keep away

 

[Sparky Phantom]

Hi @Sparky Phantom Welcome to CC!

Are you looking for an automatic, or manual?

I'd say look for signs that the car's been taken care of and not already run into the ground.. Things like cheap "performance parts" like plastic aftermarket air intakes and mismatched worn tires would fall into the trouble category for me.

And it really depends on what level of TLC you're comfortable with. I'd buy a car with some oil leaking out of the valve cover, because that's a $20 fix with a few hours of spare time... But if there's white or blue smoke in the exhaust I'd keep away

Thank you for your reply. I am wanting a manual. I was hearing people saying there is a grind in 3rd gear with higher mileage. Is that for Auto or Manual? Is head gasket a common issue or just valve cover gasket? My friend and I plan to do the repairs ourselves.

 

[ctag]

3rd gear grind is an issue with manual transmissions. I'm pretty sure it's just the synchros wearing down and not stopping the gear fast enough, which means you can just shift gently and the transmission will keep chugging along.

Yeah, head gaskets issues aren't unheard of in older cars. As far as I know though, their symptoms are pretty easy to see (runs poorly, smoke in exhaust). If you plan to do maintenance/repairs yourself, then just be aware of what you're willing to work on; things like oil gaskets usually take just a few hours to tackle, but I wouldn't even know how much time to budget if I wanted to fix a head gasket (haven't done one of those before).

 

[XpL0d3r]

What are your plans? If you're looking to modify one, stick to 96-00 unless you get a 01-05 Civic Si. 01-05 non-Si's you can't really do much with.

With whatever you look for, get the VIN, and run a report. Get all of the maintenance history you can. Find out when the clutch, timing belt, and water pump were changed out, if they were. When you get a chance to test a car, do so with the radio off. Listen for any noises in every gear. Listen for noises turning, accelerating, braking, coasting.

 

[Sparky Phantom]

3rd gear grind is an issue with manual transmissions. I'm pretty sure it's just the synchros wearing down and not stopping the gear fast enough, which means you can just shift gently and the transmission will keep chugging along.

Yeah, head gaskets issues aren't unheard of in older cars. As far as I know though, their symptoms are pretty easy to see (runs poorly, smoke in exhaust). If you plan to do maintenance/repairs yourself, then just be aware of what you're willing to work on; things like oil gaskets usually take just a few hours to tackle, but I wouldn't even know how much time to budget if I wanted to fix a head gasket (haven't done one of those before).

What years are common for the 3rd gear grind?

What are your plans? If you're looking to modify one, stick to 96-00 unless you get a 01-05 Civic Si. 01-05 non-Si's you can't really do much with.

With whatever you look for, get the VIN, and run a report. Get all of the maintenance history you can. Find out when the clutch, timing belt, and water pump were changed out, if they were. When you get a chance to test a car, do so with the radio off. Listen for any noises in every gear. Listen for noises turning, accelerating, braking, coasting.

I don't really have any plans to mod it. Just as a daily driver to keep miles off my current car.

 

[ctag]

What years are common for the 3rd gear grind?

I don't know. I do know that a 6th gen ('96-00) transmission I bought off craigslist has it, but that's my only experience with that kind of thing.

 

[NikkiLauda]

As boofoo said, buy bone stock. And stay away from 2001-2003 civics. Engine problems. 2004-2005 are solid. But number one in my book is how the car was maintained during its life. Easy to tell if the owner cared about it or not.